Kind of like your preference for toothpaste or what you eat for breakfast in the morning, the Christmas tree you choose will come down largely to personal taste. So, we didn’t get overly technical with our tree comparisons. Instead, we simply considered objective factors like the number of branch tips on each of our top contenders. We took an in-depth look at the material composition of each tree. Then we looked at what it took to assemble and disassemble each one, and considered each tree’s cost.

With a stand like this, you can spend more time doing your holiday shopping and less time struggling to set up your tree. This innovative design doesn't require screws or extra parts—all you have to do is lock the steel grips in place and insert the trunk into the stand. Within seconds, you’ll have a perfectly stationed Christmas tree that is ready to be decorated.

Children's vocals for the songs "Christmas Time is Here", "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" and when the kids all shout "Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown" were performed by members of the choir of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in San Rafael, California. Several months before the making of A Charlie Brown Christmas this choir was featured on the Vince Guaraldi recording "Vince Guaraldi at Grace Cathedral."
Much of the background cast came from Mendelson's home neighborhood in northern California.[18] According to Robbins, the children viewed the script's sophisticated dialogue as "edgy," finding several words and phrases, among them "eastern syndicate", difficult to pronounce.[15] He recalled the recording sessions as chaotic, with excited children running rampant. Nevertheless, the recording of A Charlie Brown Christmas was completed in one day.[15] Jefferson Airplane was recording next door and came over to get the children's autographs.[2] Following the special's broadcast, the children became wildly popular in their respective elementary schools; Robbins recalled groups approaching him asking him to recite lines of dialogue.[18]
Along the lower Rhine, an area of Roman Catholic majority, the Christmas tree was largely regarded as a Protestant custom. As a result, it remained confined to the upper Rhineland for a relatively long period of time. The custom did eventually gain wider acceptance beginning around 1815 by way of Prussian officials who emigrated there following the Congress of Vienna.

The product holds trees up to 12 feet tall with trunks up to 7.5 inches in diameter. Quick Stands use a speed nut design that allows you to easily and quickly push stabilizing bolts into the base of the tree without tediously turning the bolt. Once the bolt makes contact with the trunk, simply tighten the bolt to secure and straighten your tree upright. It's easy as one, two, tree!

Each year, 33 to 36 million Christmas trees are produced in America, and 50 to 60 million are produced in Europe. In 1998, there were about 15,000 growers in America (a third of them "choose and cut" farms). In that same year, it was estimated that Americans spent $1.5 billion on Christmas trees.[85] By 2016 that had climbed to $2.04 billion for natural trees and a further $1.86 billion for artificial trees. In Europe, 75 million trees worth €2.4 billion ($3.2 billion) are harvested annually.[86]
The Charlie Brown Christmas Tree Grove is an annual holiday event located on the Windsor Town Green, the premier central gathering place for Windsor residents and visitors. The event highlights 200 lighted individually decorated holiday trees lining the walkways of the Green. Students, families, groups and local businesses showcase their talents in design and decorating with their themed trees which draw thousands of visitors to Old Downtown Windsor for the Holidays.
Live trees are typically grown as a crop and replanted in rotation after cutting, often providing suitable habitat for wildlife.[citation needed] Alternately, live trees can be donated to livestock farmers of such animals like goats who find that such trees uncontaminated by chemical additives are excellent fodder.[110] In some cases management of Christmas tree crops can result in poor habitat since it sometimes involves heavy input of pesticides.[111] Concerns have been raised about people cutting down old and rare conifers, such as the Keteleeria evelyniana and Abies fraseri, for Christmas trees.

Since the early 20th century, it has become common in many cities, towns, and department stores to put up public Christmas trees outdoors, such as the Macy's Great Tree in Atlanta (since 1948), the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree in New York City, and the large Christmas tree at Victoria Square in Adelaide. The use of fire retardant allows many indoor public areas to place real trees and be compliant with code. Licensed applicants of fire retardant solution spray the tree, tag the tree, and provide a certificate for inspection. Real trees are popular with high end visual merchandising displays around the world. Leading global retailers such as Apple often place real trees in their window displays. In 2009, Apple placed two Fraser fir trees in every one of its retail establishments.[citation needed]

The 50th anniversary broadcast aired on November 30, 2015, and it featured a full two-hour time slot that was padded by a special, It's Your 50th Christmas, Charlie Brown, which was hosted by Kristen Bell, and featured musical performances by Kristin Chenoweth, Matthew Morrison, Sarah McLachlan, Boyz II Men, Pentatonix, David Benoit, and the All-American Boys Chorus.[35] It also included documentary features.[36]
Wreath accessories are available to make your decorating experience easier. Consider round storage bags to keep your wreath fluffy and protected while it's stored away. For display, decorative wreath hangers made of wrought iron and other metals make hanging a wreath quite easy. If you want to display wreaths throughout your home or along a driveway, consider wreath stands. Simply hang a wreath from the stand's large hook for big decorative impact.
The re-boxed artificial tree of this size is heavy (over 50 pounds), difficult to fit on most shelves, and has a volume comparable to a tank-style water heater. But if you have ample storage space, you don’t have to keep a tree in its original box. Rather, Gurino said, keeping it covered and dry is the main thing. You can separate the sections and flatten the branches as compactly as you can, or keep it whole; just don’t store it somewhere it’ll be trampled or moved a lot. Do cover it with a light plastic painter’s tarp or an old sheet to keep the dust off, or buy a tree bag. And a climate-controlled space (converted basement, storage closet) is always preferable to an attic or garage.
“This is a lovely tree; it is so realistic-looking that it has to be touched to confirm that it’s not real. Substantial branches don’t sag, except with the very heaviest ornaments. I like lots of lights, and the way these lights are mounted gives the appearance of having more lights, even with ornaments. It was easy to assemble; though you should plan on spending a lot of time ‘fluffing’ since there are many, many branch tips! I bought this one for my mother; and we liked it so much, I’ve ordered the 7.5-foot-tall one as a gift for my daughter’s family!”

Our Snap Tree™ is a comprehensive and effortless tree assembly and storage solution. Simply snap the stand in, tilt it up, connect the treetop, and setup is complete. A built-in rolling stand offers you an easy way to find the perfect spot for your tree. After the holidays, conveniently store the tree on its stand with its upright custom storage bag. The Quick Set™ lighting system incorporates all light strings within the tree trunk. Light connections are automatically made while setting up, so a single plug illuminates your tree.

Testing came in three phases looking at assembly, usage, and stability. During the assembly stage, we always tried to set up the stands without looking at the instructions first. It’s not because all the testers were men–mostly. A Christmas tree stand should last for years and from season to season, instructions get lost. Intuitive design is a must. We used a seven-and-a-half foot tall Fraser fir. After surveying our office and researching the average ceiling height for American households, we decided to get a tree that was no taller than eight feet, but not shorter than seven.
For one, several of this GE tree’s specs are favorable when compared with our top pick from National Tree. It’s the same height and width, but it has more branch tips for a fuller appearance (2,073 versus 1,867). Like our top pick, the GE lets you switch between white and multicolor lighting modes; additionally, the lights connect automatically through the central pole as you assemble the three sections of the tree, a handy (but not vital) feature. But we especially love the way GE’s LED Christmas lights look—in our test of Christmas lights, we found GE’s tones closest to the familiar warm glow of incandescent bulbs. That’s not to say anything against National Tree’s lights: We found them very pretty, especially the pale gold of the white-light setting. But if you seek something close to the incandescent look, the GE tree may be your ticket.
If you’re one of the millions of individuals opting for faux this year, you may be astounded at the number of artificial trees available on the market. When searching for your perfect tree, we know that delving into species, heights and needle types can be confusing, so we’re here to make it simpler. We spent weeks researching and comparing dozens of artificial Christmas trees to determine that the 7.5-foot Best Choice Products – Premium Spruce is our top pick among the best artificial Christmas trees. It’s quick and easy to set up, looks full and festive, and is easy on your holiday budget at less than one hundred dollars. The branches of this tree sit high off the ground, meaning plenty of room for presents underneath!
The Cinco Express fits in the mid-sized tree stand range. It is ideal for real trees up to ten feet tall with a trunk diameter of up to seven inches. This stand is made of heavy-duty plastic. The base features three galvanized pins in its center to hold the tree in place before final adjustments. A push-pull ratchet mechanism makes it easier to set up and take down your tree. The base has an overall diameter of 20 inches and fits two gallons of water.
Our testing also included the Contech Enterprises TS9405 Indoor Steel Christmas Tree Stand and the currently unavailable Emerald Innovations XTS1 Swivel Straight Tree Stand For 12′ Tree (also known as the 1-Minute Tree Stand). Neither was as stable as the Tree Genie XXL or the Cinco. The Emerald Innovations started to tip at 30 Newtons of pulling force, and the Contech tipped at 25 Newtons. Performance was similar with large and small trees. Both the Emerald Innovations and Contech stands have 1½-gallon reservoirs—sufficient, but the smallest among tested models.
Much cuter than I anticipated. Ornament is real old school meaning it's breakable, so be careful when unpacking it (it comes carefully wrapped in Linus' blanket (which I love btw). Minimal assembly - no tools required. Only suggestion: wish they would lightly sand the wooden base. It took me 5 minutes though with fine sandpaper to avoid chance of splinters, so no biggie. I still give this 5 stars for cuteness and pure nostalgia. I ended up taking mine to work (see pic). It's on my desk. People walk by and immediately knows what it is. People old and young love Peanuts for the past 50 years now.
Much of the situation is due to the way artificial trees are manufactured: Almost all of them come out of a handful of factories in Taiwan and China. So while the companies selling the trees specify the details of their designs, the companies making the trees use similar materials and even many of the same basic components. That means you will be able to find a great artificial tree, even if it’s not our pick.
But don’t stop there. Your unique Christmas wreath ideas inside could be the talk of the party, too. Order basic Christmas wreaths & then personalize them to match the room you want to hang them in. Add Christmas cookie cutters, ribbon & candy canes to your wreath for the kitchen. Add small, colorful ornaments, jingle bells & a gift tag with an inspirational message to a living room wreath. Or throw a wreath & bow around your faux animal head on a bar wall. Your imagination is the limit to how creative your Xmas wreaths can be.
Tinsel and several types of garland or ribbon are commonly used to decorate a Christmas tree. Silvered saran-based tinsel was introduced later. Delicate mold-blown and painted colored glass Christmas ornaments were a specialty of the glass factories in the Thuringian Forest, especially in Lauscha in the late 19th century, and have since become a large industry, complete with famous-name designers. Baubles are another common decoration, consisting of small hollow glass or plastic spheres coated with a thin metallic layer to make them reflective, with a further coating of a thin pigmented polymer in order to provide coloration. Lighting with electric lights (Christmas lights or, in the United Kingdom, fairy lights) is commonly done. A tree-topper, sometimes an angel but more frequently a star, completes the decoration.
Second, it needs a sizeable reservoir of water to keep the tree moist and “alive” (or at least prevent it from drying out and losing all its needles) for as long as possible. A dry tree is not only ugly and messy, it’s a fire hazard. Though this is rare, it does happen—according to the National Fire Protection Association, between 2009 and 2013, Christmas trees were the source of an average of 210 home fires each year, according to a National Fire Protection Association. So how much water is enough? The National Christmas Tree Association notes that, “Generally, a tree can use up to one quart of water per day for each inch of stem diameter.” That’s 1½ gallons each day for a 6-inch-diameter tree. Larger water capacity is always better, so you’re not constantly worried about watering the tree.
Whether you pick a blue spruce or a balsam fir, you put all that effort into finding and cutting down the perfect Christmas tree—don't let it go to waste. The right Christmas tree stand can help keep your tree stable, hydrated, and alive longer (not to mention, help you show off your tree's best side), so they're worth the investment—unless you plan to go the artificial tree route.

Jack-Post manufactures tree stands in Asia and Michigan under a variety of brand names. The Welded Steel Christmas Tree Stand is the most heavy-duty option coming with its lifetime warranty and wide leg span of nearly 30 inches (for the large version). The base and the hollow legs of the stand are made out of steel, and the four T-nut tipped eye bolts are made of corrosion-resistant zinc dichromate.

^ The story, not recounted in the vitae written in his time, appears in a BBC Devon website, "Devon Myths and Legends", and in a number of educational storybooks, including St. Boniface and the Little Fir Tree: A Story to Color by Jenny Melmoth and Val Hayward (Warrington: Alfresco Books 1999 ISBN 1-873727-15-1), The Brightest Star of All: Christmas Stories for the Family by Carrie Papa (Abingdon Press 1999 ISBN 978-0-687-64813-9) and "How Saint Boniface Kept Christmas Eve" by Mary Louise Harvey in The American Normal Readers: Fifth Book, 207-22. Silver, Burdett and Co. 1912.
The special influenced dozens of young aspiring artists and animators, many of whom went on to work within both the comics and animation industries, among them Eric Goldberg (Pocahontas),[39] Pete Docter (Monsters, Inc., Up), Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, WALL-E),[1] Jef Mallett (Frazz),[38] and Patrick McDonnell (Mutts).[40] The show's score made an equally pervasive impact on viewers who would later perform jazz, among them David Benoit[41] and George Winston.[31] More directly, the special launched a series of Peanuts films, TV specials (many of them holiday-themed) and other works of entertainment.
Give the hanging wreath a break, and incorporate one into your table setting. Here, we spruced up a boxwood wreath with succulents, eucalyptus sprigs, and gold ribbon and placed a grouping of mismatched green candles in the center. If guests are coming, add a few fresh white tulips to the wreath with florist water picks and light the candles. Because this is a low arrangement, dinner-party conversations will flow easily all night.
However, once the branches are in place, they stay formed exactly how you set them. The Best Choice tree branches also sit higher off the ground than the NTC tree, meaning that you can easily slide gifts underneath. It had minimal shedding when we set it up, requiring just one quick sweep of a broom to undo the damage. And at less than $90, this tree is also one of the best deals of the holiday season.
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We unboxed and set up the tree over the Thanksgiving 2018 holiday weekend, and as we found the year before, it’s still in near perfect condition. The arms all fold down smoothly, the lights all work, no needles are bent or broken, the stand is still sturdy—we really have nothing to complain about. In the past two years, we’ve come to expect making some minor adjustments, including pulling branches into position, straightening the top stem, and positioning ornaments strategically to cover gaps, as you would with any tree. The cross-country truck ride in 2016 was more abuse than most owners are likely to put their tree through when simply hauling it in and out of storage at home. After seeing this tree survive the shipment unscathed, we’re fully confident in its ability to last the decade or so that most owners will keep it at home. It genuinely looks good, too: A 5-year-old seeing the tree for the first time in 2017 confidently declared that it was real (before he scooted underneath it mechanic-style and changed his mind upon a closer inspection).
A big tree in your living room can make even a spacious home feel a lot smaller. At the same time, a small tree can get lost in a wide-open area. Fake Christmas trees come in a range of choices in height and fullness to work in any space. For a small home or apartment, a slim or potted tree works well, while a room with a cathedral ceiling calls for a tall, full tree. You also want to make sure your tree is big enough to hold all your treasured holiday decorations
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^ so in The Lutheran Witness, Volume 83 (1964), p. 548 "the Chrismon (from CHRISt-MONogram) tree", and in James Edgar, Ellen Edgar, A Chrismon Service (1981), p. 2. The word's actual etymology, from Middle Latin (Landulf of Milan, 12th century) crismon, is less than clear: George Henry Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers, The riddle of the 'Labarum' and the origin of Christian symbols, Allen & Unwin, 1966, p. 28; "I can find no roots, etymology or grounds for the adoption of the word adopted by some Christians, 'Chrismon', which is supposed to mean the 'Monogram of Christ', and which appears in some dictionaries (i.e. Funk and Wagnalis, 1922)."
If you’re one of the millions of individuals opting for faux this year, you may be astounded at the number of artificial trees available on the market. When searching for your perfect tree, we know that delving into species, heights and needle types can be confusing, so we’re here to make it simpler. We spent weeks researching and comparing dozens of artificial Christmas trees to determine that the 7.5-foot Best Choice Products – Premium Spruce is our top pick among the best artificial Christmas trees. It’s quick and easy to set up, looks full and festive, and is easy on your holiday budget at less than one hundred dollars. The branches of this tree sit high off the ground, meaning plenty of room for presents underneath!
A Bremen guild chronicle of 1570 reports that a small tree decorated with "apples, nuts, dates, pretzels and paper flowers" was erected in the guild-house for the benefit of the guild members' children, who collected the dainties on Christmas Day.[27] In 1584, the pastor and chronicler Balthasar Russow in his Chronica der Provinz Lyfflandt (1584) wrote of an established tradition of setting up a decorated spruce at the market square, where the young men "went with a flock of maidens and women, first sang and danced there and then set the tree aflame".